


ten years

by sunfish



Category: Layton Kyouju Series | Professor Layton Series
Genre: Angst, Gen, Post-Canon, Reconciliation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-01
Updated: 2019-03-01
Packaged: 2019-11-07 10:38:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17958899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunfish/pseuds/sunfish
Summary: A visit.





	ten years

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this as a submission to something I didn't get into. I liked it though, so I edited it a bit and here it is. This is set a while after Unwound Future (see title lol) but pre-Layton's Mystery Journey, and that's about as much context as I think is needed. Happy (very late) 10th anniversary to Unwound Future!

When he sees her, he stops and his eyes widen, almost as if he’s choking. Flora quietly gives a small wave across the glass wall as she picks up the receiver.

“Five minutes,” the guard grumbles.

The first thing Clive says once he sits down is a dazed “What are you doing here?”

“I’m surprised you recognize me.” Her hand goes to the back of her neck, where the ends of her hair now fall among her fingertips, but there’s also the weight, the wrinkles, and the simple wear of aging.

“Your eyes are the same.” He shrugs. “Besides, I’m sure you could say the same about me.” He blithely gestures to his face, scruffy and thin.

Silence falls between them.

Flora pushes forward. “I heard you’re up for parole.”

“In a few weeks. Are you here to tell me to I don’t deserve it? How dare I even try?” He laughs all too sadly.

“No. I just want to see who you are now, how you're doing.”

Clive laughs again. “Tired.” His gaze circles around the walls but doesn’t return to her. “This place is…this place isn’t really for changing. But I guess it fits me, it’s what I deserve.” There’s the trace of a grin on his lips that manages to be glib and dour.

A fiery coldness creeps up Flora’s back. “Stop. Stop that.”

His eyes snap back to her. “Sorry, I—”

“You’re not a martyr. You can say you hate it here.”

Silence again, then he sighs. “Why are you here?”

“I wanted to do the right thing." She keeps her voice level. "You hurt me, but I wanted to take the high road.”

He frowns. “No one asked you to take the high road.”

“Someone has to.”

“Since when did taking the higher road mean coming here?”

“Because he stopped sending letters to you.”

He sits up abruptly and his grip on the receiver tightens. “How did you know?”

The distress in Clive’s voice calms her, oddly enough. “I used to help with his mail, before I left.”

Flora glances at the clock on the wall; she maybe has two minutes.

“He stopped sending letters to me too.”

He blinks. “What, why?”

She shrugs. “Too busy with more important things,” she laughs now, a little too sour perhaps.

Then softly, Flora says—not for Clive, or anyone else in particular—“I think he carries around stuff. Stuff that makes him like this. I couldn’t see it when I was younger, but now…”

Clive slumps back, the receiver still held to his ear.

“I’m still not sure what this has to do with me though.”

“Someone has to check up on you.”

“And you want to?”

“I’m not sure, but…I prefer it being me than nobody. It seems lonely in here.”

The guard steps in. “Time’s up.”

Clive stares back at Flora for a moment before hanging up the receiver. He mumbles something as he stands to leave—something she can’t hear, but she still replies, “Good luck.”

**Author's Note:**

> I really do love Hershel but he kinda sucks, y'know? Also I miss Flora (hashtag where is she????) and Clive all the time. :^(
> 
>  
> 
> [Tumblr Link](https://sunfishwriting.tumblr.com/post/183136872875/ten-years-sunfish-layton-kyouju-series)


End file.
